Apparatus for heating water and other liquids or fluids.



G. G. BELL. A APPARATUS POR HEATING WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS QR FLUIDS.

APPlIICAIIONV FILED DEC.17, 1910.

1,069,372, Patent-,ed Aug. 5, 1913.

FIG l grimms-sfuma 1,

. ELL.

AND OTHER LIQUIDS TIO ED DB.17,1910.

APPARATUS PoR HEAT APPL 1 ,06 9, 3 72 0R FLUIDS.

atented Aug. 5, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ING-

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vUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE GILBERT BELL, OF KENSINGTON, ENG-LANE, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO ELECTRIC HEAT STORAGE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

, APPARATUS FORHEATING WATER AND OTHER'LIQUIDS 0R FLUIDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

.Patent ed Aug. 5, 1913.

-application filed. December 17, 1910. Serial No. 597,924.

To all 107mm, t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE GILBERT- BELL, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at No. la Addison Court Gardens, Kensington, in the county of Middlesex, England, have invented new. and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Heating Tater and other Liquids or Fluids, of' which the folloiting is' a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for heating Water and other liquids or fluids or media of the type in which a mass of a material such as iron capable of storing heatand being also a good conductor of heat, is heated electrically, such mass being also capable of imparting as and when required such stored heat to the medium to be heated, be it fluid, liquid or solid.

According to this invention the thermal storage mass ivhich is preferablymade of iron or other similar material having a high specific or latent heat value, is provided with an external` chamber the outer surface of the masstorming the inner Wall of the chamber, which external chamber is adapted to receive the Water or other medium, so that what heat doesggescape from the hot mass ivill heat the fluid and Will not be lost, and this einernal vessel may' also be provided with a heat insulating coating or jacket. The thermal massformed with the external chamber is moreover inclosed in a jacket of heatinsulating material, or the latter may consist of -a vacuum jacket and the internal and external surfaces ofthe jacket or coating may be polished or silvered to minimize radiation in known manner. The mass of material in which the heat is stored may be of any suitable size and shape, and it may be spherical so that-1t has the least surface for its volume, and the leakage of heat through the insulating jacket or coating is therefore a minimum, but from a practical point of View it has been found convenient to make it cylindrical in which case the external chamber is conveniently made annular. The electrical energy may be supplied eitherl continuouslyT or' during those hours of the day when 1t can be purchased most cheaply, andv may heat-the mass of iron or othermateral by means of a heating, coil orE by any suitable means. The j ac ket of heatinsulating material may also contain an annular orA other:

wise suitably formed preliminary heating chamber connected to the supply of Water or other medium, and in order that deleterious matter such as lime or the like (conta-ined el or. chamber is employed in which precipitation takes place. It is also evident that a filter or other means of purification may be employed in connection With this apparatus if desired. lVhen the medium to be heated is of the nature of a'fluid, it may be passed through the hot mass either by an applied pressure or by the natural circulation due to convection.- The thermal storage mass when made cylindrical is suitably pro vided with a flange at each end 'and a thin sleeve of, metal or other suitable material is placed around the cylindricalmass and fixed to the flanges by Welding, boltingnor otherwise so as to form a jacket around and ooncentric With the mass. 4The annular space between the mass and the jacket forms the heating chamber for the medium to be heated and the said chamber is provided with an inlet and an outlet forthe passage which may be annular, such projections be ing` either of cast or Wrought ironfto-assist f in the rapidfheatng of the Water by bringing the heatv outinto-Qthe body ofthe Water in. the. heating, chamber or space morev rapidly.A Or-instead of providingthe ther.- mal-mass Withallange at each end, it may be so provided at-one. endY only, While the cylindrical sleeve, formingthe jacket or outer Wall ofthe: heating chamber basan' outwardly projecting flange at one end which, is adapted to lbe boltedor otherwise fixed to the flange on the masswhile the other v'end;0 ,.the jacketis provided witl1 an inwardlyprojecting flange` which 1s bolted or 'otherwise fixed tothe angeless end of the mass. Or .the sleeve or jacket may be fixed to the. cylindrical mass in any other leenveiiient manner. The mass is provided uthan electric heating coil or coils prefer- Vably' wholly or partially mounted iii a recess at one end thereof. And in order that this invent-ion may be more readily understood, it will be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings of which Figure l is ajvertical section of a thermal storage apparatus for liquid yor other fluid. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation of a modified form of the thermal storage mass and-heating chamber. Figs. 3, 5, and 6 are similar views ofother modifications.

According to one construction and referring more particularly to Fig. 1, the thermal storage mass a, is provided with a flange 7), at each end, and a thin' sleeve o of metal, or othersuitable material isl placed around the 'cylindricalmasa a, and -fiXed tothe flanges,

l Z), by welding, bolting, or otherwise, so as to 'form a jacket around and concentric with `the mass. The annular space between the mass, a, and the jacket, c, forms the lheating `chamber, UZ, for the medium to be heated,

andthe inlet may consist-of a pipe, e, passing in at the top and-reaching nearly to the bottom,'orit may enter at the bottom while the outlet, f, is at the top and may be providedwith a trap g, whence it passes to a mixing valve. 'The thermal storage block or mass, a, is provided with an electric heating coil or coils,l Z1., wholly or partially mounted in a recess, z', at. one'end thereof.

'titi The block, a, is surrounded by a jacket of-4 heat insulating material, Zc, and the latter again is surrounded by an incl'osed annular tank, Z, which is closed at the bottom by a circular plate, m, the whole being similarly insulated, the object of the bottom plate being to prevent any leakage of heat downward, any heat striking it, is communicated to the ,annular tank, Z. The latter is connected to the water supplyby the pipe, n, and in .order to promote circulation', the inlet from the water supply, is at, or opens at the bot-toni of the annular tank, and, if desired, thewa'ter may be cause-'d to assume a circuitous routefrom t-he bottom upward. The upper end of the annular tank, Z, has an outlet which may connect directly by the pipes,

0 and e, with the annular heating chamber,

or furv due to liardwater. This precipitating chamber suitably consists of a box, 79, with a removable cover or manhole y. having depending divisions or fins., r. fitting watertight at the sides and reaching nearly water in this-precipitating chamber, p, will` be raised to boiling point, and as any lime or the likecontained therein will .be thrownl down or settle, it follows that only pure soft water will pass to the heating chamber, eZ,

surrounding the thermal heater a. As the.

precipitating chamber is capable of'being -opened by removing the insulating material above it, it may be inspected and cleared out when necessary. The whole apparatus is preferably inclosed in a sheet lnie'tal casing t, with a lid or cover, t1, and if the annular heating chamber around the tl'iermal, heater should become choked or foul, itmay be easilyremoved, taken to pieces, put in workf ,ingl order, and replaced. Or, as'shown in Fig. 2, the cylindrical mass, a, may be provided with a helical fi'n, u, the external diameter of which may lit into the interior of the met-al sleeve, c, and the water orother medium entering atv the bottoiii isn thus forced to take a circuitous course in its passage through the chamber toward the outlet,

f.' Or, as shown in Fig. 3, the Vblock a, may

also be cast with parallel radiating projections, flanges, or vfins o, which may be annular, such projections'being either of cast or wrought iron to assistlin the rapid heating of the water by bringing thevheat out into the body of the Water inthe annular space more rapidly. The radiating flanges may if desired, be made of wrought iron instead of cast iron, which forms the material of the loo heat storage mass.' Such flanges, as shownat fw, in Fig. 4, are made of wrought iron and are combined with the mass during the molding operation. metal-to-me'tal joint for the transfer of -heat to the ironflanges formed by the said rings.

Or instead of providing -the.inass,'va, withl a flange, at each end as shown in Fig. 1, it may be so provided at one end onlyv as shown in- Fig. 5, while the cylindrical sleeve, c, forming the jacket has an .outwardly pro- This makes a perfect jecting flange, f0,fat one end which .is adapted. to be bolted or otherwise rfixed to the flange, b, on the mass, while the other end of the jacket is provided with an inwardly proj ecting flange y, which is bolted or otherwise fixed to the flangeless end of the mass, a.

Or the sleeve o r jacket may be fixed to the I cylindrical mass in any ,j other. convenient manner. 1 1 The thermal storage mass or block may be more or less solid, as in the previous construction, or as shown in Fig. 6 it.may be provided with a passage or passages, z, through saine for the passage of the liquid.

It4 will, be understood 'that the figures illustrate typical forms of'apparatus for storing electrically .generated heat-and imparting such heat to any medium" as and heated Water, insulating material surround- I ing all of the parts, and a metal plate connecting together the different parts of the surrounding preliminary heating chamber at the bottom, and passing beneath the heat storage mass for conducting heat escaping` from the heat storage mass to the preliminary heating chamber.

10. The combination of a heat storage mass provided with a space for heating liquid, electrical heating means therefor, a preliminary heating chamber for partially heating the Water surrounding the heat storage mass, a connection for Carrying the water from the preliminary heating chamber '3o the heating space in the heat storage mass, an outlet for the discharge of the Water" from the latter space7 insulating material surrounding all of t-he parts, and a metallic plate connecting together the different parts of the surrounding preliminary heating chamber and passing close to the heatI storage mass for conducting heat escaping` from the heat storage mass to the preliminary heating chamber.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speciiication in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

GEORGE GILBERT BELL.

Witnesses:

C. A. A. JENSEN, RIPLEY WILSON. 

